Imaging methods represent important tools in medical technology. Magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) is thus distinguished in the field of clinical sectional imaging by the high and variable soft-tissue contrasts. A magnetic resonance device includes RF coils that may be used for sending and receiving radio-frequency electromagnetic signals. Different types of RF coils may be differentiated in this situation. A body coil is normally fixedly integrated in the magnetic resonance device. Local coils on the other hand, also referred to as surface coils, are often configured such that the local coils may be attached to the magnetic resonance device. RF receive coils may be positioned close to the body surface of the patient and therefore provide a high signal-to-noise ratio and a high spatial resolution. The plug-in capability for a local coil makes it possible to employ different forms of coil matched to particular examination issues, for example a special head coil for imaging a head or a special knee coil for imaging a knee.
The attachment of a local coil is a manual activity on the part of a human operator and is therefore susceptible to errors to a certain degree. A local coil that is placed onto the patient examination table or is positioned on the body of the patient, introduced into the magnetic resonance device, and that is inadvertently not attached or not completely attached, may then naturally not deliver any measurement signals but may also result in damage to the local coil or to the safety devices incorporated there. This may generate high returns and servicing costs as well as downtimes for the radiologist or for the hospital.
A coil detection facility employing RFID tags is proposed in DE 10 2012 206 066 A1. It would, however, be necessary in DE 10 2012 206 066 for further electronics and system integration to be implemented on the magnetic resonance device. Radio-frequency transponders are similarly proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,230,425 B2, with similar disadvantages and costs.